A Billboard That Purifies the Air Around It

Last year, scientists at University of Engineering and Technology (UTEC) in Peru came up with an ingenious billboard that produced drinkable water. Now they’re at it again, this time giving billboards a different superpower: the ability to purify surrounding air.

So how does it work? The billboard sucks in dirty air nearby and filters it through a water-based system, a process that traps 99 percent of the pollutants present. Clean air is then sent back out to the surrounding areas. The filtering system uses 100 percent recyclable water and consumes 2.5Kw of energy per hour.

The first air-purifying billboard has been installed near a busy construction site in Lima, a city already notorious for having the worst air quality in South America. According to UTEC, their new billboard can do the work of about 1,200 trees, purifying 100,000 cubic meters of air daily. The clean air reaches a 5-block radius, which is surely good news for both construction workers and nearby residents.